Fire suppression systems - magnesium machining

[MIL-TFP-41]

Gearing up for a production run of magnesium.

After talking with our coolant rep, he assured us that water soluble can be used for cutting, with the caveat that the magnesium chips will break down the best of coolants in a month. Something about the magnesium breaking down and making the water extremely hard, causing it to separate.

And then there is the fire hazard.....

Curious as to what people maybe using for fire suppression systems in their machines. Few years back I was working at a place that had systems on all of their machines (we also used oil, not water soluble, cutting titanium 24/7). Go figure, i didn't pay any attention to what was used.

[gcode]

back in the day we used to stage buckets of kitty litter just in case
Thankfully, there was never cause to use them
More recently, my employer purchased some large halogen fire extinguishers,
but again they we never needed
Google yields some pretty fancy automatic systems, but they are not cheap.
The best prevention is rigorous housekeeping habits... don't let the chips pile up.
If a toolpath creates fine thread like chips like a finish face mill tool path, clean the machine before and after
you make those chips
I had an acquaintance burn a brand new Haas VF4 down to bedrock years ago.
In his case they weren't keeping the chips cleaned out and an operator jogged an insert mill
into a vice jaw. 

[Jeff]

The best prevention is rigorous housekeeping habits

^^This.

I haven't turned a ton of it, but I did have to turn some wheels for a Cadillac concept car a long time ago, started with 6 big oversize chunks and made a lot of chips and a special Class D (class E?) fire extinguisher was enough, thankfully we never had to use it.

But make sure you take the chips outside and store them away from the building. If possible order a big truckload of dirt to surround the container for reassurance that it won't spread.